Get into the mood for darkness and magic, ghosts and creatures, romance and prophecy—these and so much more in the list of enthralling new young adult reads below!
Check out the October titles (organized by release date):
October 1st
By Sharlene Healy
Out in the open, the chimeras have shown us there is no going back. When my first mission goes awry, Max and I discover the chimera’s true plans for humanity.
Our new plan is to take a critical sample to Bunker 3. We need to find an antidote, and fast, or the human race is doomed.
When Max sacrifices himself to save me, I’m left stranded on my own. It’s up to me to face new and old enemies. If I don’t? The world will burn, taking me down with it.
By S. R. Breaker
What's worse than being arranged to wed the most arrogant fae warrior in your clan? Well, to be kidnapped by pirates on the eve of the ceremony, of course. First-born of the High Fae mage family of the Priori clan of Arcadia, Caelina has certain responsibilities. Destined to lead her people, she dedicates her life to her training and the pursuit of perfection. She's always known she was going to have to marry the strongest warrior in their clan to ensure the stability of her people's future. And she's long accepted her fate. But that doesn't mean she doesn't get to complain about it. Little does she know she's not the only one opposed to the match. Follow Caelina and Stellan's story with this snarky, fun, action adventure prequel. A thrilling, enemies-to-lovers arranged marriage fantasy romance. Perfect for fans of "Throne of Glass" and "Pirates of the Caribbean." Arranged to the Fae Warrior is a prequel from S. R. Breaker’s new fantasy romance series The Dragons of Arcadia. Content warning: NA closed-door fantasy romance. Contains no explicit scenes, but sex is mentioned.
October 4th
By Josephine Angelini
New York City, 1993. It wasn’t Daphne’s choice to move into the heart of a struggle that has been secretly waging for thirty-three hundred years, but not much in her life has been up to her. Fate has brought Daphne, daughter of Zeus, and Heir to the House of Atreus to where the descendants of the Greek gods can shed blood over her once again.
Men are fated to kill for her.
But New York holds a surprise for Daphne and her cursed face—the same one that once launched a thousand ships. A series of murals painted all over town mysteriously pull at her in ways she can't understand. That’s because the artist is Ajax Delos, Son of Apollo, Scion of the House of Thebes, and Daphne’s mortal enemy.
She found the one worth dying for.
With the Fates manipulating them both like pieces on a chessboard, Daphne and Ajax must find a way to break the cycle of destruction set in motion by their ancestors before the walls of Troy, or risk becoming yet another pair of star-crossed lovers doomed to repeat the same fatal mistakes.
By Kylie Lee Baker
Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami Ren Scarborough is no longer the girl who was chased out of England—she is the Goddess of Death ruling Japan’s underworld. But her problems have never been greater. Her Shinigami see her as a foreigner on the throne. Her brother, Neven, is gone, lost in the deep darkness. And her fiancé, Hiro, has been killed by her own hand. Then Ren receives the most troubling news yet—Reapers have been spotted in Japan, and it’s only a matter of time before Ivy, now Britain’s Death Goddess, comes to claim her revenge. Ren’s last hope is to appeal to the god of storms and seas, who can turn the tides to send Ivy’s ship away from Japan’s shores. But he’ll help Ren only if she finds a sword lost thousands of years ago—an impossible demand. Together with the moon god Tsukuyomi, who shares an uncanny resemblance to his brother Hiro, Ren ventures across the country in a race against time. As her journey thrusts her into the middle of scheming gods and dangerous Yokai demons, Ren will have to learn who she can truly trust—and the fate of Japan hangs in the balance.
By S. R. Breaker
A rare fae mage with no magic accidentally sets an evil demon free but he may be the key to unlocking her powers…
Soleia only wants to escape her life. But will accidentally binding an evil demon to her end it?
Second-born of the High Fae mage family of the Priori clan of Arcadia, Soleia was only expected to do certain things. Mind her dull familial duties. Undergo training to master portal summoning, the rarest form of casting among her people. Free a dangerous demon from a fifty-year-old curse and release him into their village—oops, that was an accident!
If only the Priori elders' solution wasn't to bind the evil demon to her to ensure everyone's safety. If only Soleia hadn't been lying about actually having any powers all these years. If only the gorgeous demon's intense gold-red gaze didn't send delicious shivers up her spine.
Soleia can no longer escape her fate. She has to harness her magic, keep the cursed demon at bay, and somehow keep her secret.
But the demon has secrets too. And while Soleia discovers that he is much more than he seems, a decades-long conflict for the fate of Arcadia comes to light. It could also be the key to unlocking her powers.
Saving the world often comes at too high a price. Will she sacrifice her heart, her fate, her life? Or all of it?
Content warning: NA closed-door fantasy romance. Contains no explicit scenes, but sex is mentioned.
By Trisha Lynn Balance the magic, bring down the wall, don’t die, don’t fall in love. No pressure, Kaidyn.
Kaidyn answers her friend’s plea for help and returns to Evirness.
Struggling with the guilt and anger over how she left, battling her feelings for Reid that threaten her resolve, Kaidyn throws herself into closing gateways and chasing Keystone, the fabled realm of the Keepers, where she hopes to gain answers to all the unresolved questions about Keepers and her magic.
A portal hitchhiker sends everything into chaos and delays her mission, raising more questions about her magic and future.
When skirmishes erupt at the wall, Kaidyn is pulled into a finely spun web of deceit. But there may be more than one spider holding her captive, and she isn’t sure which one to fear more.
One thing is certain; she will not get away unscathed.
Content warning: NA fantasy, fade-to-black spice.
By Harper Glenn
In a chilling near-future New United States of America, Jo Monarch has grown up in the impoverished borderlands of New Georgia. She’s given one chance to change her fate… if she can survive a boy trained to break hearts.
Today is the day Jo Monarch has been wishing on the moon about her entire life. It's the day of the Lineup, when she could be selected to leave her life in the Ashes behind. The day she could move across the mountains to a glittering, rich future.
Once Jo is plucked from the Lineup, the real test begins. She still needs to impress the New Georgia Reps at tonight's Gala, and her path forward leads straight to Cove Wells. The damaged stepson of one of the Reps, Cove has been groomed as an emotional weapon, taught that love is a tool—and he's set on breaking Jo's heart next.
When a riot breaks out back in the Ashes the night of the Gala, Jo's dreams might all go up in smoke. Can she really have everything she's ever wished for… when it means leaving all her loved ones behind in the fire?
October 7th
The Ghost Stories series
By Marie-Hélène Lebeault
Ghosted releases October 7th
When Silas moves to a remote village out in the boonies over summer break, he's less than overjoyed at his social prospects. Miles away from town with only a rusted bike for transportation, he'd rather stare at his phone than engage. However, when his parents confiscate his phone and tell him to go explore, what he finds is strange and unusual...
Cranked releases October 14th
The lighthouse keeper takes a two-week vacation every summer, and the town holds a lottery to see who will replace him. Past candidates have either disappeared, died, or come back not quite right, so there hasn’t been a volunteer for decades. Until Jake. After reading about the job opportunity in the county paper, Jake applies. Angry at the world, seventeen-year-old Jake is sure that two weeks living in the lighthouse can’t be worse than what he has to endure at home. Besides, the town is offering a thousand dollars, free meals delivered, and a mostly quiet place to stay. Jake is sure this is going to be the cushiest job he’s ever had.
Switched releases October 21st
The house across the street is finally sold, and a couple moves in. While doing her homework, Morgan looks out and sees a guy about her age in the window on the third floor. As he’s staring right at her, she waves, but he doesn’t wave back. Mortified, she closes the drapes and berates herself for trying to be friendly. Who's the boy? Why isn't he in school? Why do his parents deny having a son?
Haunted releases October 28th
What could be creepier than a doll that animates when it's not supposed to?
Based on true events...
October 11th
False Earth
By Cami Murdock Jensen
(This title releases in January on Amazon, but will be available through Kickstarter on October 11th)
Trapped, hunted, stripped of her magic and alone, will Agnes be able to save all the worlds from enslavement and her friends from imminent death? Agnes is struggling to survive as a prisoner in the Nia Nega Abyss. She scurries like a rat in the walls of the castle of the Demon Overlord Sharir, all-powerful djinn. Searching for a source of magic seems overwhelming when she can barely find food and water before the soldiers searching for her get close. She has no way of contacting her friends and can only survive on her cleverness while fending off complete exhaustion. But Sharir has other plans for Agnes and the universe. He's been creating a massive army of genetically enhanced magical creatures in order to conquer all the Earths.
By Dilani Kahawala Eleven years ago, Tilly Nyx did something she wasn’t supposed to. As a result, her mother was killed. Her village was destroyed. Her sister disappeared. An ancient horror sent her into hiding.
Now sixteen and undercover in New York City, she has waited eleven years to go home, even though she doesn’t know where home is or how to get there. All she has is the map that her mother made her swear to protect with her life. And the promise that a man called the Time Keeper is supposed to rescue her, if she can just hold on long enough for him to arrive.
But when the Time Keeper is found dead in his hotel room, with a message to contact Tilly inked on his skin, her world is upended once again. Now someone is hunting for her and the map, and if they find her, the consequences will be deadly.
Tilly soon finds herself plunged into the world where her story began—a world of oceans and sailing ships, of feuds between ancient magical families. She joins a fleet in search of the secret her map holds, which has been guarded by her family for four thousand years.
As Tilly learns how to cast sprites and make potions, she and her three friends must follow the trail of murky, disturbing clues left by her ancestors before time runs out. But the closer they get to their destination, the more Tilly discovers that nothing is what it seems…not even herself.
By Sasha Peyton Smith Months after the devastating battle between the Sons of St. Druon and the witches of Haxahaven, Frances has built a quiet, safe life for herself, teaching young witches and tending the garden within the walls of Haxahaven Academy. But one thing nags; her magic has begun to act strangely. When an opportunity to visit Paris arises, Frances jumps at the chance to go, longing for adventure and seeking answers about her own power. Once she and her classmates Maxine and Lena reach the vibrant streets of France, Frances learns that the spell she used to speak to her dead brother has had terrible consequences—the veil between the living and the dead has been torn by her recklessness, and a group of magicians are using the rift for their own gain at a horrifying cost. To right this wrong, and save lives and her own magical powers, Frances must hunt down answers in the parlors of Parisian secret societies, the halls of the Louvre, and the tunnels of the catacombs. Her only choice is to team up with the person she swore she’d never trust again, risking further betrayal and her own life in the process.
October 18th
By Nafiza Azad
Even the most powerful magic can’t hide a secret forever. Croi is a brownie, glamoured to be invisible to humans. Her life in the Wilde Forest is ordinary and her magic is weak—until the day that her guardian gives Croi a book about magick from the Otherworld, the world of the Higher Fae. Croi wakes the next morning with something pulling at her core, summoning her to the Otherworld. It’s a spell she cannot control or break. Forced to leave her home, Croi begins a journey full of surprises…and dangers. For Croi is not a brownie at all but another creature entirely, enchanted to forget her true heritage. As Croi ventures beyond the forest, her brownie glamour begins to shift and change. Who is she really, who is summoning her, and what do they want? Croi will need every ounce of her newfound magic and her courage as she travels a treacherous path to find her true self and the place in the Otherworld where she belongs.
By Kelly Andrew
Delaney Meyers-Petrov is tired of being seen as fragile just because she's Deaf. So when she's accepted into a prestigious program at Godbole University that trains students to slip between parallel worlds, she's excited for the chance to prove herself. But her semester gets off to a rocky start as she faces professors who won't accommodate her disability, and a pretentious upperclassman fascinated by Delaney's unusual talents.
Colton Price died when he was nine years old. Quite impossibly, he woke several weeks later at the feet of a green-eyed little girl. Now, twelve years later, Delaney Meyers-Petrov has stumbled back into his orbit, but Colton's been ordered to keep far away from the new girl... and the voices she hears calling to her from the shadows.
Delaney wants to keep her distance from Colton—she seems to be the only person on campus who finds him more arrogant than charming—yet after a Godbole student turns up dead, she and Colton are forced to form a tenuous alliance, plummeting down a rabbit-hole of deeply buried university secrets. But Delaney and Colton discover the cost of opening the doors between worlds when they find themselves up against something old and nameless, an enemy they need to destroy before it tears them—and their forbidden partnership—apart.
October 20th
By Theresa Kay
Stealing from the fae is easy, but working with one to retrieve the relic I was hired to swipe? Not so much.
The job was supposed to be simple: Sneak in, break the wards, grab the necklace, and get out. Being arrested for the murder of a high-profile Autumn Court fae was definitely not part of the plan.
I’m cleared of the crime and sent home, but the dead fae's arrogant grandson shows up at my door. He demands I help him retrieve the thing I never had a chance to take, though he neglects to tell me the item's true worth. In the battle for power between the fae Courts, the necklace is beyond priceless and there's more than one person willing to kill for it.
But my new associate is not the only person with secrets, and the teenage dragon shifter who lives with me in the human realm is only one of mine. After all, I haven’t spent the past six years hiding in a seedy section of post-Merge Chicago for fun.
Forced out of obscurity and on the trail of a blood magic wielding murderer, I’ll have to work quickly in order to prevent disaster. Because if we can’t find the necklace before it’s too late, then the fate of all the Courts may be at stake.
Content warning: YA-friendly NA urban fantasy
October 26th
By Clarissa Gosling
Old enemies rise. New foes emerge. The final reckoning is here. Birgith struggles to be taken seriously as the new Bear Leader. She longs to disappear to the secret valley, but her duty is to those she represents... even if the other leaders prefer to deal with her deposed aunt instead. Then another dragon is spotted - an invader from beyond the seas. Birgith must find a way to defend Kaitstud from more dragons, without forfeiting the safety of her own dragon family in the process. When circumstances force Haydn and Birgith apart, Haydn must take drastic action to secure their future. If he doesn't earn the clans respect, he'll become the worthless human they assume he is. Will they learn to stand up for each other in order to save Kaitstud together, or will the clans, and their relationship, splinter apart around them?
October 28th
By Sarah K. L. Wilson
A DEATH TOO TERRIBLE TO CONTEMPLATE. A LIFE GAMBLED FOR EVERYTHING. With her beloved dying in her arms, a last bargain with a tricky Wittenbrand her only hope of saving him, and the very world itself crumbling to bits around them, Izolda must face Death himself in her bid to turn the tables on her enemies in this deadly game of crowns and finally win a place for her husband ... and herself. But how can she possibly defeat her enemies when she is mortal and they are not, she is fragile and they are powerful, they wield magic and weapons and all she has is her common sense and a talking severed-head ally? To finally bring this to an end, she will have to tap every resource, win every throw, and puzzle out every riddle before her time runs out. It's the fairytale to end all fairytales, and Izolda is the one girl who might finally force a happy ending. If she can just outlast them all.
This article was written by Allison Rose.
Allison Rose writes YA fantasy featuring magic and otherworldly beings. Her current series feature a truly unique world of Faerie. Click the covers below to check them out.
